Top prospect to get a look in outfield; bat needed as Texas slumps

The Texas Rangers need something to change to get them out of their funk, but that change will not—and should not—include moving Jurickson Profar off the 25-man roster.

Entering Monday’s game against the first-place Oakland Athletics, the Rangers had lost six in a row—all at home—and nine of their last 11, dropping them out of first place in the American League West. Part of the reason for the slump was a struggling offense that is tied for 12th in the league in runs scored and in the bottom half in on-base percentage, slugging and OPS for June.

Knowing these numbers, the last thing the Rangers want to do is send one of their better hitters to the minors because they don’t have a set position for him. That means Profar, a natural shortstop who has been playing second base, will now get reps in the outfield because everyday second baseman Ian Kinsler was activated from the disabled list Saturday. The 20-year-old Profar played third base Saturday and became the youngest designated hitter in franchise history Monday.

“(We’re) not going to turn him into an outfielder in two or three days,” manager Ron Washington told reporters before Monday’s 8-7 victory, which kicked off an important four-game series vs. Oakland. “We’re going to make sure he gets all kinds of work and when (outfield coach Gary Pettis) thinks he’s ready and the opportunity presents itself, we’ll put him out there.

“Right now Pro’s still got to do his work in other places and do work in the outfield, too. About a week, 10 days or something like that, if he gets comfortable out there, you might see him.”

Profar, the game’s top prospect entering the season, has been reasonably productive since being called up last month. In 23 games (97 plate appearances), he has hit .276/.333/.391 with two home runs, four doubles and seven RBIs.

It’s not out-of-this-world production, but at this point the Rangers will take what they can get, and that means they won’t option Profar to Class AAA Round Rock. Even though Profar will be playing out of position and the team will lose his solid defense in the infield, this is the correct call.

Profar has never played the outfield—“Not even in Little League,” he told reporters—but he is athletic enough to adapt quickly and be an adequate left fielder. It’s also universally accepted (in most cases) that a natural shortstop can always transition to the outfield.

As of now, the Rangers’ primary left fielder is David Murphy, the starter in 56 of the team’s 70 games and owner of a .212/.271/.377 line. He is hitting .179 in his last 20 games. Replacing his bat with Profar’s would hardly be a hit to the batting order.

There was plenty of chatter in the offseason about the Rangers’ trade options involving Profar, Kinsler and shortstop Elvis Andrus. The Rangers barely considered moving any of those players, if they ever considered it at all. The team needed pitching, maybe a middle-of-the-order bat, and Justin Upton was available to them, but the Rangers wisely kept Profar off the table and ended up having a fairly inactive winter.

Though the team is struggling right now, Texas management made a wise choice.

Profar has superstar talent, Andrus is among the best all-around shortstops in the game (though his offense has been down this year) and won't turn 25 until August, and Kinsler is still an All-Star caliber second baseman. Also, Profar is obviously very inexpensive still (he’s making just over the major league minimum of $490,000), and Andrus doesn’t start making real money ($15 million a season from 2015 through 2020) for another season and a half. Kinsler is in the first year of a five-year, $75 million contract extension.

Moving Profar to the outfield to keep him in the lineup is another wise move by a smart front office.